COMPLETED
Seoul Busters - Didn't care about the mystery - everyone knew the friend did it from the moment the character was introduced. But I loved the team and the way their growth was shown - incl. the tie-back to the Golden Buddha case at the end.

ONGOING
The Judge from Hell - That was sort of bonkers in terms of plot but also exciting in that the two episodes just flashed by. Satan ended up being a bit of a damp squib though.

Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born - I was cringing SO HARD in the last 5 minutes, internally screaming "don't do it!!".

A Virtuous Business - The fantasy scenes were a hoot. I love these ladies together!

Dong-jae… - Dong-jae with his delusions of grandeur about solving everything himself and getting to the Supreme Prosecutor's office 😅. His pettiness with his hoobae is hilarious.

Family by Choice - Well we're at the separation. Good thing about it being a kdrama is that this will only last like 1 episode, maybe less.

C-DRAMAS
Completed The Rise of Ning. Stayed steady and good till the end. FL's dad was a sweetheart.

Also completed Kill Me, Love Me. Another one which changed the canon happy ending for…reasons I guess? The last 10 episodes were hopelessly messy - just alternating scenes of almost dying and being saved until there was no more.

Watching Fangs of Fortune (up to Ep. 13), which is beautifully stylish but also unintentionally funny. The way they walk and speak slowwwwlyyy until the rather banger OST kicks in and everything speeds up…😂

Started The Story of Pearl Girl - First two episodes were really intense and rather hard to watch. Not sure if I'm in the mood for this rn.

Also started Love Game in Eastern Fantasy. Not a bad adaptation of the novel and It's doing some cool things with the premise. We'll see how it goes.

Current/recent:
Family By Choice: How can a drama with such an outrageous amount of ~*drama*~ - multiple parental abandonments, deaths, health crises, etc., etc. - feel so sweet and down-to-earth and also pull my heart out of my chest?

A Virtuous Business: Kim Won-hae dancing in a sexy red satin slip clearly has found the elixir of life and is sharing it with the rest of us.

Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo (through ep. 6 of 8): This BL starts off more “regular drama”-like, in the same way that Love in the Big City does, and then becomes a bit more conventional with the BL tropes and traumas, but both lead actors are a cut above the usual and are emotionally convincing.

Older shows:
Extraordinary You rewatch. I’d forgotten how good many of the ‘teen’ actors are but not how visually entrancing it is, and how striking in its lush bright colors because relatively few dramas are filmed in high summer. And it reminds me that Kim Hyun-mok has progressed from playing the comical unattractive kid whose dreams of kissing a girl are ridiculed to the newlywed-and-sleep-deprived Oh-bong who can roll his eyes at celibate Rowoon in The Matchmakers.

ear Hyeri: So, their LOVE “cured” them, IAHIkegajkwengjksngjkvsrhgkjvsdhrtbkjseh, This drama was such a shame. No answers and made-up shenanigans. It is a pity too because our leads had great chemistry. However, this drama was not only terribly written, but also terribly researched, and terribly put together. SIGH.

Dongjae: So we know about the drugs and most of the players, but who killed poor Yuri. The transformation Gyeo Re by his father was something else. Also to blame everything on the Yuri, the police officer’s daughter, while he is burying her is AUDACITY. This will not end well for Wan Sung.

Family by Choice: Awww, what a heartbreaking separation. I just wanted to give Joo Won a hug. While the boys were still bickering, she was clearly heartbroken. Selfish boys.

A Virtuous Business: HUZZAH to our 4 ladies, selling lingerie and living their best lives. I hate that they introduced such a creepo, but that is to be expected. Hopefully, it is resolved quickly.

The Judge from Hell: So, we are at the end. How will they solve it. Will Justitia stay on earth?

Jeongnyeon: I really hope she gets in trouble for what she did on stage. A great actor knows when to shine and when to let others shine. Young Seo and Joo Ran were my favorite together, so I hope they show them more often.

Fragile (8): Talk about an iconic ending scene. I fully expected that Kang San had a crush on Chan Seong, but I certainly didn't expect that he'd actually kiss him, so that was a pleasant surprise. And, as usual, the A Ra & Su Ho moments were once again joy to watch. It's obvious she's interested in him, even if she doesn't wanna admit it. I guess it's a good thing he's patient. While I don't think this show came close to being as good as Skam S1 was, I still very much enjoyed it. But with Skam S1 & it's remakes, a personal highlight for me has always been the girl squad, and their friendship, and I can definitely say that this is true for this show as well. I'm gonna miss them. Certainly wouldn't mind if they adapted the other seasons as well though…

Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born (5-6): Finally, a love triangle I can get behind! Or is it a love pentagon at this point? Anyway, I love this show. Jeongnyeon is so chaotic, and it's a delight to watch, but I also love that she's allowed to be flawed, as the ending of episode 6 highlighted. That ending was fantastic, and Kim Tae-ri nailed it. Can't wait to see where we go from here!

Jeong-Nyeon: The Star is Born: 8.0 Wonder how it feels to be one of the extras, playing an extra in the play?

Judge From Hell: 8.5

A Virtuous Business: 7.0 Parts are fun, parts are depressing, and now the crime-related stuff probably won't make the parts fit together any more harmoniously. Is there anybody in town who feels like a kdrama Big Bad?
- You can tell this show isn't set in a current-day city because people can stand around in the street talking without getting Trucked.

Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard: 7.0 Not bad, except in comparison to the other shows this week.

Dog Knows Everything: 9.5 for the finale, 8.0 for the series.
Day 11: First love. Crooked manager. Birth secrets. Yes, it's a kdrama.
Day 12: NAILED IT! But don't scare us like that.

Seoul Busters: 8.5 OMG that Yumi's Cell sendup :) For once I wouldn't mind a sequel.
EP 17 - the stomach rumbling + students reactions were fine at first, but went on a bit too long.

This has been a very good week. Dongjae & Business were the "worst" things I watched, but they weren't actually bad except in comparison to the current competition.

I saw where some poll rated Queen Woo worst drama of the year. No surprise, except that I didn't know there was such a poll. Love Next Door also got mentioned, which doesn't make me feel bad about dropping it.

Don't know who No Ae-ri is. But, whoever she is, she sure created a badass cliffhanger in Iron Family that had me eager for episode 11. And, I give this drama a plus for speed.

And, might I add that I was super happy when the Police Chief spoke her mind within Mu-rim's earshot. I do hope she remains unapologetic about it, and in the future too. It is not her fault that she wants her daughter to want something which the daughter clearly expressed she desired. He's only looking out for his own interest. I understand his stance with regards to the apartment. But a wedding dress? Nah! I'm not a part of it.

Dog Knows Everything (Series review) - Mood progression: B- / B- / B- / B+ / B / B
All series long, I was worried about how the show would deal with the birth secret: the show’s writing was great but this arc was a major sore thumb which I felt the show didn’t need at all? And I had hopes at Episode 11’s cliffhanger when the show once again flipped the script upside down (like with the makjang insanity in Episode 8!), but Gi Dong’s arc was a bit clumsy towards the end (and no doubt it is hard to write but yeah). The show definitely recovered with the unexpected blatant PPL and Sophie’s Adventures to Seoul, but it definitely left question marks about the whole dog whisperer stuff and Cho Won.

Regardless, this was a show that’s easily show of the year (and it’s not even close) unless another banger happens in the next 2 months (which I doubt). Two reasons: solid characterisation for almost everyone and a plot that hits the sweet spot of interesting but not convoluted. Personally, the show would’ve needed to trim off some unneeded filler and have a greater consistency in the procedurals (I will admit some were patchy at times) for me to go even higher in my grading, but that’s just me being super nit-picky.

Dear Hyeri (Series review) - Mood progression: D / D / D / D / D- / D-
It would be an understatement to say that the writer botched the DID representation. Besides that, if the show was about a toxic relationship, I could understand the characterisation of the OTP to some extent, but it was actually pure love and that was such a weird method of framing it narratively (not that everything needs to be flowers and roses but realistically it’s no romance that’s happening). There’s also the triple trauma trinity that ticked them plot device checkboxes but whatever, I’m looking forward to Kang Hoon’s next project. He’s going to be a ML! What’s the plot? FL has a disorder! Oh dearie.

The Judge from Hell (Episode 11-12) - Mood: D
The show must’ve realised that it’s ending next week as everything’s suddenly moving at a breakneck pace: sadly, Bit Na & Satan reveals were predictably uninspiring and unpleasant. And ofc, we still have the prophecy drama saved for the finale.

Dog Knows Everything
I enjoyed the show till the end and yes, the crime cases were sometimes simple, but that was not the point, the point was all the rest and the show made me both laugh and teary. I liked the sitcomy vibe, the talking dogs (and Sophie was excellent!), the funny PPL (what? Special Elderly Panties as a gift?? With a reference to Soonjae's pissing incident? 😂 ), how it was making fun of some TV clichés... and I especially liked watching the veterans acting, together. I had fun and wouldn't mind season 2. 🙂

Iron Family
We are 10 episodes in, with 26 episodes remaining... and I'm slightly worried we won't have enough time to tell all the stories which NEED TO BE TOLD! Oh my 50-thousand-won winking bank notes, that has never happened before to me with a weekender! I'm happily excited and hope the quality and humour stay till the end.

Family by Choice
Sometimes I think I'm watching an old k-melo with all that suffering (and misfortunes). Only it used to be more girls and now it is the boys who suffer. Ex-Mom is terrible towards Sanha. But to be honest, I dislike Aunt and Uncle even more - they are burdening/hurtig the boys with no excuse. Haejun's Bio Dad at least now looks genuinely interested in Haejun's basketball career and I think it could be a good thing for Haejun to pursue it. The same for Sanha, Seoul IS the better career option and the stay with his Stepsister may actually heal something in him. Let's hope. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the time skip and hope we are now heading to better times!

Virtuous Business
There were two highlights for me this week - Jeongsuk deciding to be happy without her obnoxious cheating husband... and when the quartet shares their s-fantasies - that iconic Basic Instinct scene! 😊 (my utter envy regarding the actress's body vs. age ratio)
And then there was His Caring Quietness Detective Kim, giving advice... and spending time with Minho. ❤️

Cdramas - no time yet, but I'm excited about Pearl Girl Lushi and Esther Trapped in Love Game.

More Asian Drama ideas...

Chinese drama idea
A group of divorced mothers get stuck in a video game which promises if one of them wins, they will get a scholarship for one of their children. The problem is that they don't know how to play the video game and it's a Love/Dating game to win the "Emperor" of a fictional land. 'cause there isn't enough material for older actresses/actors in their 30's and 40's in Chinese dramas. Might get past Chinese censors.

Japanese Drama
Sei Shonagon and Lady Murasaki are transported to the present era where they both are forced to enter high school. They wish to become the most popular girl at the school to defeat the other, but they also discover in order to return to their world and time period, they must win a poetry LINE/Twitter battle. BTW, with the recent gay marriage court ruling, one can play with this as background material for an episode. What I'm looking for is to be devastated by Heian Poetry since Sei Shonagon's own book, Pillow Book reads like Social Media before Social media. And Lady Murasaki had the rapt attention of her times and I think could match Sei Shonagon on wit. I think it could be funny and sweet as they are frienemies. Other frienemies in history I think of are people like Nikola Tesla/Thomas Edison (Who did not invent the light bulb). C.S. Lewis/JRR Tolkien. William Shakespeare/Ben Jonson. Alexander Graham Bell vs. Elisha Gray (more enemies). But this is my favorite pairing. I want to die in the pure beauty and wit of it as the snipes come deep as they fight for popularity and followers.

Korean drama

Two strangers decide to take the government's offer of being paid to have children, thinking it's easy money, but find climbing through parenthood is harder than they thought. Can cover the parts that the government doesn't think about when they do all those tackle low birth rate such as daycare, finding the right partner, incels, money to put a child through college, etc. How do they get out of fantasy land of what it takes to be parents and married to being actual parents and a good spouse?

I too quit THE JUDGE FROM HELL at episode 10 because it is just sooooo boring, I can't be bothered.

I started A VIRTUOUS BUSINESS and I binged it all so far- it has my whole heart.

In CDramaland, I'm up to the final stretch of KILL ME, LOVE ME, and I have started both THE STORY OF PEARL GIRL and LOVE GAME I EASTERN FANTASY

Live Watches
Judge from Hell: I thought that Satan would have put up more of a fight tbh (maybe he still will) but I guess we’ll have to defeat the spider before all of this is over. I still feel like this has a 50% chance of being a delusion in Kang Bit-na’s injury-addled mind. OR maybe it’s all a metaphor and we were only ever battling our own internal demons? That sounds less fun. Bring on the final battle scene!

Recent Dramas:
Black Out: (7 episodes in) HOOKED. I can’t stop watching this (honestly so glad I waited to binge it)! I didn’t trust ANY of the characters from the beginning but in the most delicious way. Well, I guess I trust the out of town detective not to have been involved in the initial murders (or was he!?!?!) and I’m glad he’s on Team Truth now, but I don’t trust him to be a decent person or anything. Yet. Byun Yo-han is stellar as usual, but I’m impressed by Lee Ga-seop (who I’ve apparently seen before in Uncle Samshik but didn’t recognize) in his dual role here. Honestly the two sidekick ajusshis are some of the most chilling characters for me at the moment, with their assertions that they cannot live alongside a murderer but their absolute willingness to assist in/cover up a bit of murdering.

LIVE WATCHES:

1. FAMILY BY CHOICE - Writer-Nim sure loves to keep cranking up the feels! And it looks like we'll be doing the jump into adulthood in the next episode! San-Ha's mother continues to be a piece of work and I'm honestly afraid for his mental health over the next decade of his life.

2. THE JUDGE FROM HELL - We are zooming towards the finale and seeing Bit-Na regain her powers yet get increasingly human. Let's hope the finale sticks the landing.

3. A VIRTUOUS BUSINESS - Another two stellar episodes that ring true to the life experiences of so many women. I'm really enjoying this!

COMPLETED

1. KNIGHT FLOWER - This was all sorts of Feminist-Potshots-At-The-Patriarchy AWESOME! Short and sweet at 12 episodes with Honey Lee and Lee Jong-Won shining in their roles. Lee Jong-Won's character is definitely another one for the Cinnamon Roll ML Leagues and I really liked that this is pretty much a Noona romance too.

2. AGATHA ALL ALONG - The series pretty much stuck the landing while leaving things open for either a second season or as the gateway to another connected Marvel series.

3. My Halloween Horror Watches - I had a Supernatural Thriller marathon with EXHUMA, THE WAILING, and THE CLOSET. EXHUMA is *chef's kiss* and the other two were fantastic as well!

DOG KNOWS EVERYTHING (Ep. 11-12) A fine wrap-up to a wonderful, unconventional series. It showed that veteran senior actors can carry a network drama with a range of class, humor, drama and poignant stories. The last weekend was less about murder mysteries and more about the characters love and support for each other. The finale was all about loyal friendship, especially for Sophie and Soon-Jae. Every story line seems to wrap up logically which fits the overall mood and execution of the series. It was light, fun and character driven short stories.

A VIRTUOUS BUSINESS (Ep 5-6) There was more humor this week. But there were some continuing dark undertones and threats to keep secrets secret. Episode 6 really amped up the tropes, detective coincidences, and women bonding. I think there are hard times ahead for them, and especially Jeong-suk who will be blamed for her divorce until the scandalous truth is revealed to In-tae.

ALLALONE (Youtube): There have been several Japanese social situation video channels where a young elementary school girl is put into situations to interact with strangers, such as asking someone to help them cross a busy intersection. I saw a couple of videos from this channel which reinforces the kindness and humanity of people when confronted by a small child who is alone.

Hi Beanies! November is here and full of new shows. I hope they are good.

What I am watching:

_ Grand Prince (7 out of 20). A very entertaining sageuk. The main couple is so cute! I can see and feel how much in love they are (good kisses, btw). I'm having fun so far. YSY is really handsome in all these very different clothing and looks (so many I have lost count).

_ C-drama Rise of Ning (33 out of 40). Peaceful, calm and beautiful to watch. This last part is very interesting, now that all the family secrets have been revealed.

What I have finished:

_ Dear Hyeri. It was very good when it was good (cinematography, music, mysteries...), but after the ninth episode I don't know what happened with the writer, but the script was a mess, some characters were impossible to understand, the humor didn't work at all (it was so cringey!)... Such a shame.

_ Dog knows everything. Here we have a drama which got better and better. The last episode was awesome. I'm going to miss this endearing show.

_ What comes after love. Even though the ending was rushed and I'd rather see new scenes instead of the same flashbacks, I really liked this mini drama. The music is wonderful, my favorite soundtrack this year. Great actings by the main actors (but I found SML's interpretation a little weak).

Once I finish Rise of Ning I'm going to start the long awaited The story of Pearl Girl, starring Liu Yuning and Zhao Lu Si. I'm looking forward to it.

On hold: Story of Ming Lan (45 out of 73) and Goryeo-Khitan War (13 out of 32). I want to finish Minglan because it's a fantastic drama.

Happy Saturday, Beanies!

HELLO, BAD SCRIPT, MY OLD FRIEND KILL ME LOVE ME: I wish I could say I was genuinely surprised by the nosedive plot took in the latest stretch, but I was not – the signs were there early on already. Still rather disappointed nonetheless. Drama pretty much climaxed in Eps 23-24, but for some ungodly reason continued until 32, with a dumb, unrewarding “angst for the sake of angst” ending to boot. I mean, it's Youku, infamous for shoving pointless tragedies where they don't belong, but even by their standard that was quite bad. Idk what to say here – leads were good and deserved better.

FANTASY MV MONTAGE FANGS OF FORTUNE: Sensory overload mess on shrooms. It's gorgeous to look at (and listen to, as long as you don't expect BGM actually fit scenes), has rich folklore rooted lore the story tries to be deep and philosophical about and the amount of hot people dressed to kill (often literally) would put any fairy court royal ball to shame... but that's about it. Plot and characterization need so much polishing still, pace is godawful, acting outside of 2 leads (surprisingly FL doesn't annoy me here unlike everywhere else and ML is great, but wtf happened to SML? he was the best performer in MJTY, darn, dude, who stole all your mojo?) and occasional cameos is just meh and overall I couldn't care less about anything that was going on there – because drama did not put nowhere near effort to make me. It's pretty clear that PD-slash-writer is itching to make an adventure anime, but human actors and real-life sets cannot bring his artistic vision to life properly, even tho he tries HARD. I respect the dedication to an impossible cause, but wasting my time on 30+ hourly MV he calls a drama is too much.

MELODY JOURNEY: I really hope all the talks about next season are not just wishful thinking, this show seriously surprised me - with its unique focus on songwriters and hardships of creating music, but overall quality as well. The only downside is too little episodes))) And the fun – Joker Xue and Zhou Shen's endless bickering, Shan Yichun and her meme-worthy pickiness, Yuning and Huangzi's BL saga, composer Zhou's singing... That idol girl group they brought to perform one of rejected tracks didn't fit tho – I'm not opposed to idea in general, but difference in vocals couldn't be more unforgiving, ouch. It was likely ratings tactic, so whatever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8UHJiJu4Uc

MOONLIGHT REUNION PARTY LOVE GAME IN EASTERN FANTASY: They had no business to drop both it and TSOPG at the same day, and Friday no less! I only had time for 1 episode, but so far it's not bad – exactly silly colorful isekai meta fun we were promised. And having 3 main leads from MOONLIGHT is another bonus, they've proven their chemistry so no worries about that. Why the hell is DYX dubbed again tho?!

Dear Hyeri Everybody seemed happy at the end, so I'm happy. But it was a weird drama.

Family by Choice Adults are the worse!

A Virtuous Business These women deserve to be happy.

Doubt By thinking he was a I know everything, he destroyed his family

The Judge from Hell At this point, I don't really care anymore.

Jeongnyeon - The Star is Born Jeongnyeon still has a lot to learn.

Seoul Busters It was a fun drama, nice humor and no hair pulling!

I'm eagerly awaiting the translations for the newest Dongjae episodes. Hopefully I can watch them soon! I was so suprised that the two writers have never written anything before (at least nothing is listed on mdl). The writing is nice and Dongjae feels in character despite the original writer not being included.

I honestly hope this gets a second season, 10 episode are a little meager. I guess it works this time because the writing is not as complicated as in stranger, but I still want to see more of the Stranger-universe!

It's November already, it feels like I didn't watch much this year compared to last year, despite there being a lot of interesting and amazing kdrama releasing this year. Hopefully I can catch up to some of them when holiday season starts (my grandma and I already started baking christmas cookies yesterday xD)

A Virtuous Business Love seeing how Jeong-suk came to the conclusion that divorce was the best option. I also love seeing the ladies progress in their business and the message that women from different socio-economic backgrounds are interested in sex pleasure and in feeling sexy. The "what is your sexual fantasy" conversation was such a wonderful bonding moment and hilarious.

Judge from Hell I'm sad we're entering the final week. With Satan supposedly destroyed, it looks like Bael is the big bad, and I'm curious to find out why and why at this point in time. The drama has kept it quite romance-lite, which I appreciate, but I can't help but worry about how we'd resolve the Justitia and Da-on relationship.

Iron Family They really take the whole cash stuffed under the mattress thing to a whole new level! It's hilarious and also nervewrecking to see mom and beloved grandparents trying to launder the money. The drama is really nailing the warmth and humor and the black comedy aspect of it with the elders turning into criminals.

Go East: cdrama. up to ep 33. Just catching up on some episodes. I FF the deaths. Overall, it's still a pleasant and easy watch, but I'm bummed that it has lost its earlier quirky charm.

Watching C drama Rise of Ning 10 of 40

Looked at 1st episode of The Story of Pearl Girl

Audiobooks , news . Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

Dear Hye-ri: I had guessed the ending wouldn’t be like I wanted it, and it wasn’t. Still a good drama somehow, though. But really, in spite of some things, especially who the FL ended up with. [sad, angry emoji].
Virtuous Business: So glad that bad thing didn’t actually happen too her – phew!
I thought maybe it would be revealed that the cheating had been for uhm, prolification purposes, helping out, so to speak. But no, not from his side, anyway.
My Dearest: (contains spoilers) Gripping and very fulfilling drama. I loved many of the characters (Giffed about Gu Jam). I think the complicated war with its mixture of sheer pragmatical greed and then the wish to demonstrate higher status by humiliating others made many (mostly sad) twists and turns plausible, … but … the story really could have done with less amnesia, and also, to never let the love of your life finish a sentence before you rush off and leave her for the next couple of years … argh, so annoying!
AND … in the beginning of their relationship, he was the kind of man that you are kind getting into an interesting conversation with, and then he sends you an unsolicited DP. He took the conversation in an unpleasant and vulgar direction a couple of times, and changed the fuzzy beginning of a kind of intimacy to something disgusting.
The story didn’t dwell on it. Still, I think that narratively, a lot of their trials and tribulations was narratively justified by making it feel true that they both became more mature, deep into their souls, as time went.
But not the amnesias, serioiusly.
The Fiery Priest: Hmm … are they trying to suggest that the acts of the Catholic Church – the abuse as well as the covering up – really are all just something the mafia made up and made some powerful church men lie about? I don’t like that they are even hinting at that, TBH
Otherwise, it is a quite funny drama, in it’s own silly way. I notice that Honey-Lee must repeat at each sighting of the priest that he is handsome. Understandable, because he is only okay looking. Several other men in the same drama are really either cute or handsome, but the ML is well, … he is okay, but he is not stunning, and to me there is no magnetism at all. The very young … novice? Newbie Priest? - as well as the kind old God’s man - both have more “it”.
But when the fiery priest smiles threateningly, he is actually funny. And Honey Lee is a pleasure to behold, even as a villainess. So …I’m watching.
:
:
Not a K-drama:
Nope: Awesome. But also a bit sad.

My wife did a re-watch of A FAMILIAR STRANGER which just became available on Viki. It is a fun, lovely show, and perhaps a good introduction to Chinese Costume dramas for anyone who does not want to commit to a forty-episode show- this one only has eight.

Of course, it was Halloween so we had our annual re-watch of MASTER’S SUN. Still a good show.

I have thoroughly enjoyed DOG KNOWS EVERYTHING. The twelfth episode ended on a very nice note and on a nice touch with our lovely Officer Hong finally made part of the homicide team which is where she should have been all along.

Four weeks into the new daily MY MERRY MARRIAGE and there are still no marriages in sight. Not much merriment either and an irresponsible father for our FL whose family has suffered because he quit his job twenty years ago.

What a contrast between IRON FAMILY and the last few weekenders: Some of us watching it are actually getting anxious about the fact that there are only twenty-six episodes yet to air and how are all the stories going to get told? So little time and yet we keep getting more relationships that need to be worked out: This last weekend added the problem of our Chairman and the newly revealed fact that our 2ML is actually his biological son that he had not known that he had (this was news to the 2ML too and neither of them are happy about it).

Jeongnyeon: I love how this show is not just set in the world of the performing arts but actually places the performances themselves at the center of its storytelling and has clearly invested great care in recreating them. I also love how it understands that the conventions of theatre have always allowed actors to break norms around gender and sexuality in "acceptable" ways and allowed audiences to experience desires they "aren't supposed to have". While you could argue that we shouldn't need to do this anymore to honestly portray queer relationships, the fact that the show is getting gangbusters ratings in notoriously LGBTQ+-hostile Korea suggests that the production team is on to something. On a side note though, if an actor in show I directed pulled the sh*t that Jeongnyeon does in episode six, they'd be dead the moment they walked off stage.

A Virtuous Business: This continues to be fun, although I hope we don't linger in "damsel in distress being rescued by the male lead" territory for too long.

Seoul Busters (completed) - I really enjoyed this drama and I'm genuinely sad to see it go. I really came to love the cast of characters and the zany humour. Hopefully, we get a season 2!

The Judge from Hell (12/14) - another of my favs ending soon. Look, the plot's a complete mess but, my God, was it fun as all Hell. I could watch another 14 episodes of Park Shin-hye kicking ass and Han Daon looking all broody & hot.

I Want to Punch that Scumbag (1/10) - "what if Nevertheless but the FL learned boxing so she could beat up the toxic ML?"

My Dress Up Darling (2/10) - never read the manga or watched the anime, but I loved the first 2 eps. lots of good stuff about connecting with other people, finding someone who understands you and respecting other people's passions. it's quite wholesome.

@missvictrix No. But at this point, I'm not sure I want them to kiss. She's a very selfish demon who only does what she wants on dates, he was actually turned on by finally getting to watch her kill, and it also turns out that, in this world, the Angel Gabriel lies just to see what people will do when they feel abandoned by the good.

Truly odd show. Somewhat worth it for a terrifyingly blond Park So-han, though.

Seoul Busters: I need season 2 right now. 😭 I'm gonna miss uri Dongbang MZ gang.
This show gave me so much comfort. One of the best surprises of the year.
Judge from Hell: Even Justitia's outfits bored me this week. I hope the finale is fun.
Iron Family: I just love this show so much.
Family by Choice: and they chose the family by blood.
A Virtuous Business: let's make all those fantasies become real for our ladies.
Btw, I feel like Geum Hee's husband would be a great model for their products. 😉
Dog Knows Everything: this was another lovely surprise! I'm going to miss this cast too. I hope we get to see all these veterans for many more years, having fun and being appreciated for their work.
That being said, the Daesang should go to the dog who played Sophie. Sorry, Lee Soon Jae.
Let Free The Curse of Taekwondo: these two are in my top three couples with best chemistry of the year.
BLs are really saving the romance genre for me this year.
Beyond Evil (finale): uri unnie came home (and we haven't done karaoke for a while), so I had to postpone this for a day and make my friend suffer because she had no one to talk with about it, but OH MY CAT such a great ending.
Our final discussion was just three hours of us saying "it was soooo good".

Ok, that's a joke. We loved how human this show was.
We got to know and understand all these characters, for better or worse. And we felt connected with most of them. And even characters that did bad things or we didn't like at the beginning had enough growth and/or depth to help us understand them, and even maybe like them at the end (yes, we forgive you Ju Won).

And for the "bad guys", they were horrible people but they didn't feel unrealistic or forced. They weren't there just as plot devices, they all were part of the story.

All these characters had some type of connection. And many of them shared a similar pain or fear. It's been a while since I've seen a drama this well written, and with so much to say about the human condition. The dialogue was always on point too.

Anyway, my friend and I are happy that at the end Dong Sik looked brighter and lighter. We hope his mom got better with time, and he lived a peaceful life.

BONUS
Stage Fighter: every single week my favorites change. But all these dancers are great!
Dear Haeri (finale): oh, I loved reading all of beanies' comments with it's mixed reactions and different interpretations. Even tho, I didn't watched the show I felt part of the journey thanks to you beanies.

Continuing policy of no-angst watching as we catapult towards US elections next week, and it's working for me :)

Finished WELCOME TO SAMDAL-RI. This drama accomplished everything it set out to do, and that's a total win in my book. Good storytelling, good production values, good casting and very good performances.

Wrapped up FOREVER AND EVER (2023). Joins my short list of dramas that are so good, you are sad you can't watch them again for the first time. Beautiful storytelling, memorable and moving.

One of my favorite drama genres is "Science Saves the World". And inexplicably, Formula One (international car racing) dramas intrigue me. I'm enjoying WE GO FAST ON TRUST (2023) with its intersection of high-level race engineering and the drivers and pit crews, with good performances by leads Ko Chia Yen and Zhai Zi Lu.

Also enjoying THE RISE OF NING, especially the two leads; and the first few episodes of THE STORY OF PEARL GIRL.

Finally, my happy (very, very happy) watch of the week goes to JOY OF LIFE (2019). Lordy, this is such a gas! It's like watching a Chinese drama version of the most excellent "Lord Stanhope's Proposal" (a rare, perfectly crafted novel that I reach for whenever I'm in the dumps) and the best of Cumberbatch/Freeman's SHERLOCK. I'm eight episodes in, and this should carry me through all the recounts. Thank you JOY OF LIFE, you may save me yet!